Beaver dam tip-ups

Seems the quality of beaver dam tip-ups is going down hill. Quality of parts and workmanship. Not like the olden days

Beaver dams Are over rated. They where great back in there day but better technology is out there. Plus the signature red flags don't show up as well as the bright orange. I like the HT round tip-ups. the flag stands higher and the hole stays covered, and the spool is on ball bearings that let that line fly off when a fish strikes.

One of my thirty year old Beaver Dams has developed a problem. The brass cross bar that the flag hooks to is spinning on the shaft. Any help in fixing? Thanks

I was a beaver dam user for years,I had them stolen out of my truck.I replaced them with frabil classics, as good as any beaver dam at half the cost

I was going to start a thread but found this one already started. I bought 4 new beaver dam tip ups this year.

After pulling up 3 tip-ups last weekend, and one today with empty hooks from stolen minnows, I decided to investigate. What I discovered was that on every single tip up the angled line keeper that hangs down along side the spool with the hole in it, was bent in too far and actually rubbed on the spool when the spool turned. If the fish pulled down on the line, it actually pushes the keeper HARDER against the spool making it easy for the fish to steal the minnow. Also I have had quite a few tip ups where the fish dropped the minnow without taking out much line. I'm sure this also contributed to that as well.

It was an easy fix as surprisingly the keeper is soft enough that I could bend it away slightly with a vice grip and a screwdriver. 10 minutes and they're fixed! I doubt the old keeper bent that easily

I also removed one of the nuts holding on the spool. I was surprised to see that the spools are 3 pieces. Not sure if they were always that way, but this would make it almost impossible to get a perfect spin on the spool. Also each one of the tip ups have slightly crooked shafts. I really am not too concerned though that this is the case, I doubt its enough to make a difference to a fish.

As a manufacturer myself I know how difficult it is to acquire good components as things get cheaper or discontinued constantly making it extremely hard to keep up cost effective quality. I would admit that it seems the quality is nowhere near what it used to be but the manufacturer may not have a choice if they are to keep the doors open.

I still think they're the best!

I haven't bought a new tip-up for 20 years, but this year I bought each of my daughters one as they have gotten old enough to start wanting to go fishing with "pops". I noticed the same thing compared to my old ones, with regards to the spools "wobbling" and not seeming to turn as smoothly... I think they are probably still better than most of the competition, but they are certainly not as good as my old ones... I'm going to have to watch the garage sales even harder now for the older style. I like the nut they have on them now for re-lubing. It should make it easier to accomplish that task, but I wonder if that is why they wobble and turn harder...? Any way, I'm sure they are as good or better than the others on the market, but it did seem a shame that a true classic has succumbed to the "china cheap" syndrome... It also seemed like the flag spring isn't as "springy" on the new ones too...

I won a 3 pack of new BD's at a derby last year. I thoiught I would string them up and use them this year but I found that they don't spin nearly as well as my old ones. When I spin the wire above the "T" on my old ones the spool spins for a count of 10. When I spin the new ones (all 3) the spool stops at a 2 count. The weight of a split shot will pull out line on the old ones. The new ones take a 1/4 ounce jig. You can even here the difference, new ones sound like metal rubbing on metal, old ones almost no sound at all. This isn't just one tip-up, it's all 3. The new ones do have a "special" paint job on them, does anyone know if they make some for "show" and some for real use?

I was told from a reliable source that the son took over the company and is using cheaper components. Hang on to those old ones boys and girls!

I recently replaced a set of Frabill's with a new set of BD's (Jolly Roger Edition). I did this because of freeze up and BD's are supposed to be freeze-proof. My Frabills (1 year old) froze up on me in 4 degree weather. I had always read that the spools on BD's always turned true and didn't wobble like the cheaper brands. This was a point made to me a few times that the wobble turned walleyes off. Two of the three BD's that I bought have wobbly spools and have the new set up with the nut on the bottom instead of the solder. I think my old set of BD's were constructed with a bit more love. I think that they are the premier tip up on the market. My new BD's spin freely in cold weather and I don't believe that the wobble really matters, I'm just sayin'.

I don't know that their quality is going down as much as there are a bunch of other tip-ups out there that are just as good as a BD for less money.

What is your point as well?

What is wrong with the quality?

Whats your point muskyhunter?

I have a belly button!